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IN HONOR OF THE EIGHTY-SIXTfl ANNIVERSARY 




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BAPTIST & TAYLOR, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, SUN BUILDINCxS, 

COR. FULTON AND NASSAU STREETS. 
1862. 



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SOCIETY OF TAMMANY; 



AT 

TAMMANY HALL, 

On B'KID^Y, JULY 4tli, 1863. 



THE P O E M , 

By henry MORFORD, Esq. ; 

THE OR AT 1(3 N, 

By Hon. CHARLES P. DALY. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY. 

NEW YORK: ^ 

BAFTIST & TAYLOR, STEAM BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, 

sr.V BCILDIXG, C<JK. FrLTOS AXD SASSAC ST.^. 

1862. 



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REPORTED BY 



joseip^ieh: Xj. ib r^ tj int id ei x_. i_. ^ 

No. S5 C H A JVI B E US STREET, 



l©w Y@irk. 



BY THE 

T^MMA.ISrY SOCIETY; 

OR, 

c? o X* XT 3VI :^ I -(A. 3xr o :ei. x> S3 fi. , 

OF THE 

86th Anniversary of American Independence, 

AT 

1^^=1.1X3.^^^^, J"XJI_iT" 4tli, 1862. 



In accordance with their unvarying custom since 1789, the 
members of the Tammany Society met in the " Grand Council 
Chamber " of the " Old Wigwam," on the Fourth of July, to 
celebrate, with appropriate ceremonies and in the manner pre- 
scribed by their Constitution, the Birth-day of the Nation. 
At a Preliminary Meeting of the Members, the general charge 
of the festivities had been intrusted to a 

^pwiHl €ommxikt, 
Consisting of— 

Sachem Daniel E. Delay an, Chairman, 
« Douglas Taylor, 
" James B. Nicholson, 

who, having made the necessary arrangements, issued the fol- 
lowing Programme for the day: 



SOCIETY OF TAMMANY: OR, COLUMBIAN ORDER. 



CELEBRATION OF THE EIGHTY-SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF 



The members of the Tammany Society will meet at the Old Wigwam, at half- 
past eleven o'clock, A. M., on Friday, July 4, 1862 ; at twelve o'clock 
the doors of the Grand Council Chamber will be thrown 
open ; the Sachems, Warriors and Chiefs will assem- 
ble on the platform in the large hall. 
The Cecilian Brass Band will perform national airs until the commencement 
of the exercises, which will be at one o'clock, P. M., precisely. 

ORDER OF EXERCISES. 

Overture — National Air.s Cecilian Brass Band. 

Opening Address Grand Sachem Watekbury. 

National Hymn — " Mij Country, 'Tis of Tliee," will then be sung by Professor 

CoLBURN and Taventy-Four Boys, accompanied on the Piano 

by a celebrated musical artist. 

TnE Declaration of Independence will be read by Bro. George W. McLean. 

Chorus — '■^ Red, White and Blue," — Prof. Colburn and Twenty-four Boys, 

with Piano accompaniment. 

Brother Hosea B. Perkins will recite Eliza Cook's Ode to Washington. 

Song and Chorus — " The Drum Tap Rattles Through the Land," sung by Prof. 

Colburn and Piipils, with Piano accompaniment. 

After which Henry Morford, Esq. will read his patriotic Poem, 

composed for the occasion, entitled "Tammany and the Union." 

Chorus— Patriotic Hymn—" Forever," sung by Prof. Colburn and Twenty- 
four Boys, Piano accompaniment. 

Oration • • • Hon. Charles P. Daly. 

The exercises will conclude with the " Star Spangled Banner,'''' 
sung by Prof. Colburn and boys, accompanied by the 
Cecilian Brass Band, the audience rising and 
joining in the chorus. 

After which the Banquet Room will he thrown opf^n, where the " Waters of the 
Crreat Spring" will flow plenteoiisly, and where distinRuished hrethren will respond 
lo appropriate sentiments, and patriotic songs will be given by an efliclent G-lee Olub. 



Sachem .Johu A. Dix, 
Sachem Klijah F. Purdy, 
Sachem Kichai-d B. Connolly, 
Sachem Peter B. .Sweeny, 
Treasurer (Jeorge E. Baldwin, 
Sagamore G. S. Messerve, 

RICHARD WINNE, Snilf 



Sachem John Kelly, 
Sachem T.saac Bell, 
Sachem .las. B. Nicholson, 
Saoliem Pnniel E. Delavan, 



Sachem Thomas Dunlap, 
Sachem Edward (hooper, 
Sachem John E. Develin, 
Sachem Douglas Taylor, 
Secretary 0. C. Childs. 
WisKinkie S. C. Durvea. 



HENRY V.\NDEW.\TER, Fathero/the Council. 



Daniel F. Tiemann 
Emanuel B. Hart, 
•lohn R. Brady, 
Andrew V. Siout, 
M. T Brennau, 
Smith Ely, Jr. 
Anthony L. Rob 
.James Murphy, 
.Tames Lyncli, 
Geo. W. McLean, 
O. (iddl'rey Gunther, 
Andre Froment, 
L. F. Uarri.son, 
Andrew H. (rreeu, 
Thos. B. Tajipnn, 
George G. tiarnanl, 
Jno. Y. Savage, Jr., 



■tson, 



CO.MMITTEK OI'- 

Ohas. J. Ohipp, 
,Iohn T. Hoflman, 
■lohu M. Barboiu', 
Thos. G. Fields, 
William :Miner, 
Alliert Cardoza, 
Henry Hilton, 
Michael Connolly, 
Aaron 15. Rollins, 
John R. Briggs, 
Wilson <i. Hunt, 
Wm. McMurray, 
Fredk. L. Vulte, 
William P. Powers 
Kalph Bogart, 
Wm. 0. Conner, 
John Richardson, 



MEMRKItS OF THE SOCIETY. 

Augustus Schell, 
>lenry L. Clinton. 
William M. Tweed, 
John T. Henry, 
John S. Giles, 
Samuel J. Tilden, 
Josiab W. Brown, 
Wm. H. Leonard, 
Wm. J. Peck, 
Thomas Byrnes, 
David A. T'owler, 
John H. McCunn, 
Thomas W. Adams, 
Anson Ilerrick, 
John Clancy, 
Thos. K. Downing, 
Malcolm Campbell, 



Nathaniel Jarvis, .Tr. 
George H. E. Lynch, 
Edward Sanford, 
Robert C. Mclntire, 
William B. Gierke, 
Harvey F. ,\ubery, 
Moses D. Gale, 
John Fitch, 
Edmund L. Hearne, 
John Kagan, 
A.T. Gallagher, 
Peter Moneghan, 
Wm. Murphy, 
Jetl'erson Brown, 
George Smith, 
Walter Roche, 
Joseph D. Baldwin. 



CASPER C. CHILDS, Secretary. 



NELSON J. WATERBURY, Grand Sachem. 



In response to this call, the members of the Society and their 
friends, to the nmiiber of two thousand, assembled in the " Grand 
Council Chamber" which was superbly decorated with the flags 
of all nations. A splendid transparency of General Jackson 
was draped in the national colors; on the sides of the room 
were conspicuously displayed the banners of the Society, and 
the insignia of the thirteen original States ; and the portraits 
of Washington, Lafayette, Jefferson, Polk, Clay, and 
Webster, occupied prominent positions on the walls of the old 
Wigwam. 

The Sachems and Officers of the Society, with their distin- 
guished guests, having taken their places on the platform, the 
band performed a selection of national airs, after which the 
large assemblage was called to order by the Grand Sachem, 
who made the following introductory remarks : 

ADDRESS 

OF 

HON, NELSON J. WATERBURY. 

Brothers and Friends: — In accordance with immemorial 
usage and with the constitution of the Tammany Society, the 
doors of the great Wigwam are this day thrown open to all 
the friends of liberty who may desire to participate with us in 
the celebration of the anniversary of our National Independ- 
ence, [cheers] The Tammany Society and the Society of the 
Cincinnati each took root in the pure soil of the revolutionary 
era, and they are the only organizations formed at that early 
period which have remained until the present time. Each has 
regularly commemorated the return of this sacred day. The 
Tammany Society is devoted now, as it was at the period of its 
formation, to our national Constitution, and to those principles 
of civil liberty upon which our government is founded, and 
upon which alone it can be perpetuated ; [cheers] and I take 



6 



great pleasure in saying that it has grown with the growth of 
our nation, and that it has ever been the hallowed spot where 
all the friends of our country could gather, and where people 
from other parts of the world could devote themselves to free- 
dom, under the protection of those sacred principles, [loud 
cheers.^ 

My friends, there never was a time when it was more incum- 
bent upon every man who loves liberty — who values the freedom 
of his country, to celebrate the birthday of our independence ; 
there never was a time, I say, in om^ history when it was more 
incumbent upon us to do so, than it is now. [cheers] We are at 
a crisis when a wicked rebellion has raised its foul head to 
overthrow and destroy the best government that the world has 
ever known ; and we are here to day surrounded by other cir- 
cumstances which make the present a peculiarly trying time- 
This is the second Fourth of July since this war commenced. 
When we assembled here one year ago there was no voice 
throughout the northern States which pretended to be loyal to 
the Constitution of our countrj^, which did not also profess to 
be willing to uphold and maintain that Constitution in all its 
sacredness and in all its parts, [loud cheers'] That was the 
doctrine which was universally proclaimed only one year ago ; 
and the Congress of the United States, by a vote nearly unani- 
mous, passed a resolution pledging itself that the war should 
not be waged to overthrow or interfere with the rights or 
established institutions of the States of this Union, [cheers] Only 
one year has rolled around, and during a large portion of that 
year, very many of the men who voted for that resolution have 
been striving, basely striving, even with the crime of perjury 
upon their souls to destroy what they pledged themselves to 
sustain, [groans] We iiud even in our own section of the 
country, among men who professed to be willing to sustain this 
government, and to uphold it against all tlie dangers which 



may threaten it, we find men who are more dangerous to its 
perpetuity — to the success of the holiest of causes, or as dan- 
gerous at least, as the traitors who are in arms against us at the 
South, [^ear, hear and cheers] By the machinations of these 
men the gallant young general who has been sent forward to 
fight the battles of his country [enthusiastic cheers for McClellan] 
under more trying circmnstances than ever before surrounded 
any man, has been compelled with his gallant soldiers to face, 
upon the deadly battle field, three times their own number. 

Most unfoi'tunate, or if not unfortuuate, at least mortifying to 
us Democrats, is the fact, that this disaster — the situation in 
which that General, and his army are placed, and all the conse- 
quences which may arise from it, are the work of a man who 
one year ago pretended to be a Democrat ; a man who was 
selected by President Lincoln and placed in the War Depart- 
ment because he was a Democrat, and, I doubt not, as a grace- 
ful recognition by the President, of the generous support he had 
received from the northern democracy in the struggle to main- 
tain our country. We have found, however, as we will always 
find, that the worst of all men is a renegade. We need not be 
sm'prised, therefore, that when Edwin M. Stanton took office, 
and betrayed the party to which he had hitherto professed to 
belong, that from that time forward he has been the fitting tool 
of the Abolitionists, [groans] and has been their instrument — 
their mean instrument to accomplish their damnaljle and detest- 
able })urposes [groans.] 

A VOICE — Down with the Abolitionists. 

Mr. Waterburt — But, my friends, our cause is not to Ije lost 
by the treachery or misconduct of any man or any set of men. 
[cheers.] This Government; the Constitution of our country; 
the Union of these States are to be maintained under all cir- 
cumstances, come what may. [enthusiastic cheers, which lasted some 
minutes] If there is a moment of darkness and of doubt sur- 



rounding our cause, holy as it is, by reason of any misfortune at 
Richmond, or by reason of tiie fact, that General McClellan 
[cheers] has been compelled to retreat for a short distance, it is 
only the more incumbent upon every friend of his (^untry to 
rally to her support and to do whatever he can to give success 
to her cause, and to the brave men who are bound together upon 
the battle field to maintain it. We must do the President of» 
the United States the justice to say, that upon many occasions 
he has done well. He has done well in overruling the infamous 
proclamations of Fremont and Hunter. He has done well in 
sustaining General McClellan against the machinations of trai- 
tors in Congress and out of Congress, [cheers] In these respects 
he has done very well indeed ; and if he will now only put the 
loot of power upon the neck of Abolitionism, and hold it down 
under his foot [cheers] so that our soldiers may be left unem- 
barrassed to fight the battles of our country, the Union will yet 
be saved, [cheers] During the whole war there has not been 
found a single officer who has done credit to himself in the 
field, who does not loathe from the bottom of his heart this foul 
spirit of fanaticism which has Ijcen found to be so dangerous 
to our cause up to the present hour. If the President will only 
hold the spirit of Abolitionism down [cheers] victory will very 
soon perch upon our banners, and the nation's flag will be carried 
everywhere in triumph, [enthusiastic cheers] 

My friends, I shall not detain you, because there is a great 
deal to be offered for your enjoyment to-day. Let me add, 
however, that I feel assured that there is no tongue here present 
upon which does not falter the vow that the Constitution which 
is now committed to our care and keeping with our brother 
patriots throughout the land, shall be preserved inviolate ; [loud 
cheers] and no heart which does not accept the sentiment, with 
the devotion of life itself, " That the Union of these States 
shall remain now and forever, one and inseparable." [loud 
cheers.] 



The National Hymn, " My Country, 'Tis of Thee,'' was then 
sung by Professor Colbuen and a chorus of twenty-four boys, 
accompanied on the piano by Professor Charles F. Olnet. 

After which George W. McLean, Esq., read the Declara- 
tion OF Independence, which was received with tumultuous 
applause, and at its termination repeated cheers were given for 
the " Union,'" the " Tammany Society'"' and for the reader, 
Col. McLean. 

The patriotic song and chorus, ^^ Columbia, the Gem of the 
Ocean," was then admirably sung by Professor Colburn and his 
pupils. 

Miss Annie Mahon sang a very pretty ballad written by her 
father, Mr. John Mahon, and entitled " A Soldier is my Beau." 
The song, in which she was assisted by the twenty-four juvenile 
vocalists, was warmly applauded and deservedly encored. 
The allusions — introduced in an additional verse — to General 
McCl^lan and Col. Corcoran were received with tremendous 
and repeated cheers. 

Grand Sachem Waterburt introduced Hosea B. Perkins, 
Esq., who addressed the audience as follows : 

Gentlemen of the Tammany Society : — It has been an- 
nounced that I would recite " Eliza Cook's Ode to Washing- 
ton." Since the announcement was made I have received from 
a gentleman, not unknown to literary fame, an original poem 
on " Washington," written for the occasion, with the request 
that I would submit it for your consideration. I shall be very 
happy to substitute it if you so desire, and it remains for you 
to say which of the two I shall read. 

The audience, in response, called for the reading of the ori- 
ginal poem, and Mr. Perkins proceeded to recite the following 
Ode, which was loudly applauded throughout. 

2 



10 



ODE TO WASHINGTON. 

Of all the heroes who have shone on history's starry page, 

The light, the glory, and the jiride of each successive age, 

Whose name's the brightest and the best ? Whose fame's the dearest won ? 

They are thine own, imperial West, for thine is Washington ! 

The laurels that adorn his brow are fresh as when they grew, 
For he was iirst in war and peace, as brave as he was true ; 
And from oppression's iron grasp with strong and constant hand, 
He ransomed all his countrymen, and saved his native land. 

In council wise, in prudence firm, and spotless in renown, 
He put away ambition's prize and spurned a kingly crown. 
Wealth had no lure to drag him down from his transcendent place, 
For dearer than the world to him the freedom of his race ! 

He was the Joshua of his time — all men obeyed his will : 

And in the valleys, where he fought, the sun and moon stood still. 

The soldier of the Lord he went, held by a mighty hand, 

Till he had passed the wilderness and reached the promised land. 

No warrior of the classic roll called out a juster praise. 

For CAESAR gained no grander spoils and wore no greener bays. 

Like Caesar, too, how wise he wrote, though not with blood-stained pen, 

The record of the noblest deeds performed by noble men. 

Great while he led his armies on — great while he ruled the land. 
And greater yet, when he resigned his country's high command — 
When, great as he had lived, he died all willing to depart, 
America was found engraved upon his inmo.st heart. 

He loved the Union — " Guard it well" — the dying hero said, 

" That hour, which sees its broken bonds, will see your freedom dead. 

" Oh ! guard it well, and let it stand for its own sake secure, 

" Then Peace, sustained by Liberty, through ages shall endure." 

Alas ! could he have seen the hour that we have lived to see. 
He might have deeply mourned the death of Peace and Liberty. 
But, could we listen to his voice, as oft it spoke before, 
Our broken bonds might be rejoined, and union rise once more. 

Oh ! that his spirit might descend to-day, like heavenly fire. 
And light upon our country's shrines the old fraternal fire ; 
Then love and peace might live again, and hate and war be done. 
As with accordant lips we hail the name of Washington ! 

Professor Colburn and pupils then sang the following spirited 



11 



SONG AND CHORUS. 

" The iJrum-Tap Rattles Thro^ the VxtW." 

The drum-tap rattles tliro' the land, 

The trumpet calls to arms, 
A startled Nation stands aghast, 

Unused to war's alai'ms ! 
Ho ! watchman on the outer wall I 

What danger do you see ? 
" To arms, to arms I" the sentry cries, 

" To arms, if you'd be free !" 
Ckortis — " To arms, to arms !" the sentry cries, 

"To arms if you'd be free !" 

Hark ! heard you not that booming gun .' 

'Twas aim'd at Sumter's walls ! 
To arms, to arms ! the cry speeds on, — 

To arms ! or Freedom falls ! 
For on those walls our Banner floats, 

Assail'd by traitor hand ; 
To arms, to arms ! a Nation shouts 

To arms ! for Freedom stand ! To arms, &c. 

They come, they come with patriot zeal. 

From workshop, store and farm ; 
Resolved to save their Country's Flag, 

And traitor foes disarm ! 
Like ocean's roar their voices swell 

From plain to mountain crag ; — 
Union and Liberty they ci-y ; 

One Country and one Flag I To arms, &c. 

With gath'ring strength they onward march, 

Their Country's flag to shield ; 
Its starry folds they bear aloft 

On many a battle-field ! 
They stand as once our Father's stood, 

They scorn from foe to fly, 
For Freedom and Columbia's Flag 

They conquer or they die. To arms, &c. 

God speed our noble, gallant baud 

Of heroes, true and brave ; 
March on, march on ! till o'er our land 

The Stripes and Stars shall wave I 
Great God of battles— bless our cause, 

Bring Peace from War's alarms ! 
Protect and guide us by Thy Might, 

'Till Vict'ry crowns our Arms ! To arms, &c. 



12 



The Grand Sachem announced that Henry Morford, Esq., 
would read an origmal poem, entitled " Tammany and the 
Union." 

Mr. Morford then proceeded to read, in a clear and distinct 
voice, the following poem, which, throughout, elicited tumultu- 
ous and prolonged applause. 

TAMMANY AND UNION. 

.A. :e=» ^^ T i=L I o T I o :f o E Is/: . 

BY HENRY MORFORD. 

In this hall so old and honored — filled with purpose proud and high, 

Stood we, friends of the republic, on the Fourth of last July. 

Twelve short months ; and yet a century seems down Time's abysses hurled. 

When we mark our lightning progress and the history of a world. 

Twelve short months — a year of changes such as ne'er the nations saw 

Since creation sprung from chaos at the great primeval law. 

One year past — and wide around us cannons roar and thunder drums. 

For once more the Nation's Birth-day to a patriot people comes. 

Flags are waving, voices bursting into words of deafening cheer. 

For the nation lives — God bless it ! — and its natal day is here ! 

One year since, and who can measure what that single year has brought 

For the destinies of nations and the bursting world of thought ? 

That one year has taught old Europe that the Giant of the West 

Bows to nothing less than Heaven his haughty head and nodding crest ; — 

That the nation once derided for its single lust of pelf. 

Means to be, ere years are many, able to defend itself! — 

That the nation Russell sneered at, lying in a drowsy sleep, 

Has awoke, and rolled its thunders of defiance o'er the deep. — 

That the nation once so peaceful, now beneath the foeman's walls 

Musters such a mighty army as no living despot calls. — 

That the natioi snubbed and threatened, with most base and foul intent, 

When two traitors Wilkes imprisoned, taken from the English Trent, 

Now compels the great admission from the cringing London Times — 

Paid apologist of Europe for the blackest, basest crimes, — 

That no nation dares oppose us if we rise to any deed 

That the country's pride may order or its iron arm may need ; — 

That if Canada we covet, and stretch out our armed hand, 

England's pride and England's power cannot check the bold demand ! 



13 



This from England ! — from the power that through centuries old and long 
Has not owned one single equal in her course of powerful wrong ! — 
Tbis from England, that has girdled half the earth with bristling steel. 
And down trodden countless millions under her remorseless heel ! — 
This from Ireland'? proud oppressor — this from India's tyrant foe — 
This from her whose intermeddling helped to lay poor Poland low. 
This from her who in our troubles would an open foe appear, 
But that something cries "Forbear ! it may be dangerous meddling here !" 
This from her whose back and shoulders writhe in powerless rage and pain 
Under those strong Union lashes dealt by bold George Francis Train ! 
This from her, who if she ever dares again invade our shore. 
Finds that last three hundred thousand ready, with a million more! 
This to us, her truant foundling, treated long with scorn and sneer — 
Now so powrirful grown, the mother stops and shrieks in guilty fear ! 

In that year of wondrous progress, once agaia Columbia's claim 

To the mastery of the ocean, won by many a hero name — 

Lost by France and England's bickerings, that had studded bay and coast 

With such fleets of armed monsters as no age could ever boast— 

This was all re-won and doubled, in one episode of war, 

When from Ericsson's tri?d genius flashed the iron Monitor ! 

When th'3 chance of gallant Worden for immortal honor came. 

And he won it, sure and steady, in the battle's fiercest flame. — 

When her guas the "cheese-box" thundered on the deadly Merrimac, 

And the bolts herself assailing sent like peas from pop-guns back — 

Then the French and Euglish navies, pride and terror of tbe world, 

At one blow were crushed and humbled — -into yawls and cock-boats curled. 

Ericsson the Swede — true genius .'—after bearing shame and wrong, 

Roapt at once the wide, full harvest that his soul had waited long ; 

And his great adopted country, fostering his inventive pride. 

In one gunboat found a navy that the world dared not deride ! 

Soon the fleets of iron monsters, proof 'gainst fite, and shot, and shell, 

And them^^elves with power to thunder out the flames and bolts of hell — 

Will be guarding every harbor on our long Atlantic coast. 

Bidding all the world deQance to mailed fleet or armed host ; 

Then, with our canals so widened that one single day it takes 

To conveys fleet of Monitors from Hudson to the Lakes, 

While above our battling armies and above the rebel lines 

Something floats, that all the genius of this wondrous age combines, — 

Something like the eye Almighty from the blue sky looking down 

And discerning every movement made in country and in town, 

While each motion of the foeman grows as plain as light at noon. 

To McClellan in his marquee, with the wires of Low's bulloon! 



14 



Then, with such a watch unsleeping, on the land and on the sea, 
Who will dare assault or insult the old Banner of the Free ! 

But the year has other omens, quite as pregnant and as true ; 

With the Soas of the Great Wigwam, more thaci all, they have to do.' 

And on this, the nation's birth-day, we must pause and look behind, 

Measuring with a will determined and with patriotic mind 

What have been the true relations, since this struggle first began, 

Borne by every true and loyal honest democratic man ? 

What has Tammany, the ancient, done to aid the holy cause — 

Done to free the land from treason and to win the world's applause? 

Ribald tongues have dared to utter words that should be stamped at once 

As the falsehood of the liar or the drivelling of the duoce. 

Placing in a false position those who bear your honored name, 

While for "wide-awakes" and negroes ttiey demand the world's acclaim! 

Is this just 1 Will you permit it on our history's page to stand 

Without rising to efface it, with a bold, determined hand? 

Will you leave the blatant falsehood on the future's page to show ? 

Sure I hear the Great Tribe thunder, through their lips of war-paint, "No !" 

Who have been the truly loyal, in this struggle to aiaitiain 

All that nerved the patriot's heart and all that fired his throbbing brain ? 

Was it base, black Abolition, with its false and treacherous heart. 

That had done its share accursed in splitting North and South apart — 

Was it this that formed the nucleus round which patriot men could cling 

When they heard the note of danger and the cry of battle ring ? 

Had Republicans so managed what their place of power gave 

Bitter feuds to cool and lessen and the bonds of old to save — 

That on them the patriot feeling could with confidence rely 

In that struggle when the country was to conquer or to die ? 

No ! when broke the waves around us, and a strong-nerved pilot hand 

Every heart in anguish prayed to bring the ship of state to land — 

But one chart remained unblemished — but one chart no true man feared, 

And by that and that alone the perilled vessel must be steered. 

'Twas democracy ! No insult that had given to North or South ! 

That had done no double deed arfd spoken with no deceitful mouth. 

With it, all might yet be saved : without it, all was surely lost , 

As if o'er the sea of death the foundering bark already crossed ! 

Hands that held the helm were helpless : would the men once driven away 

Lend for pity's sake their aid to battle through that fearful day? 

This the question after Sumter asked, and answered fairly then, 

Yet one year since, in this Wigwam, asked and answered once again! 



15 



One jear since, and here beside us Kennedy, your Sachem, stood. 
Pledging for the good old Union what so soon be gave — his blood ! 
Stood where Sachem Waterbubt has so nobly stood to-day. 
Uttering words of truth and honor that will never pass away. 
One year since, and on this rostrum those who dared to shrink with fear 
Heard the thunder tones of VValbridge, for the Union ringing clear. 
Tones that Daly soon will echo, as to-day he does his part, 
With no common pleas to rouse and fire the patriotic heart, 
Bat intending that his course shall show in conduct staunch and firm, 
One of loyalty's first judges through his whole life's general term ! 
Will not Brady — will not Hilton- well his arms in this support, 
Keeping up the pride and honor of tbe Democratic court? 

One year since, and those who wondered what in trials strange and new 
Tammany the old and honored jvould resolve to say and do — 
Heard an answer that the nation never more will dare forget — 
Answer that through all our pulses thrills with pride and vigor yet : 
"Jackson's bust is standing near us — Jackson's words our motto be! 
As they ring across the mountains from his grave in Tennessee — 
" 'Union now and Union ever, whatsoe'er be party's scope ! 
" 'Our best blood to save the nation, and for traitor necks, the rope !' " 

Do ye know, oh friends and brothers, what that utterance was worth 
To the destinies of millions and the dearest hopes of earth ? 
Do ye know how on this platform eyes were fixed o'er all the land, 
Waiting till the proud Old Wigwam once should fairly show its havd ? 
Do ye know how thieves and traitors hoped to see its great knees quake, 
And some faint and feeble utterance from its lips of palsy break ? 
Do ye know how Abolition would have given its black right arm. 
Once to hear the Wigwam utter words to work it shame and harm ? 
Do ye know that if the utterance had that day been false or faint, 
Nothing could have saved the nation from secession's evil taint ? 
Tammany's voice was sorely needed — Tammany's voice tLe nation shook 
With such thunder tones that no one ever more its will mistook ! 

Oh, the very doubt was shameful ! — doubt like that which oft for life 
Some half crazed aud jealous husband throws upon a faithful wife ! 
What for years had stood a bulwark 'tween the ruin threatened wide 
By the sectional disturbers swarming thick on every side — 
But Democracy, the faithful ? What, without its earnest aid. 
Years ago had saved the nation being low in ruin laid ? 
When had Tammany once faltered when the Union was at stake, 
From which faithless side soever waves of fear might upward break ? 



16 



Where among the nation's records figured men of truer soul 
Than the scribes of the Old Wigwam had inscribed upon its roll ? 
Who could doubt that in their coffins would rebel its honored dead, 
When around the council fire one word of treason should be said ? 
Who could doubt its true men living would cast off" the very name, 
If to bear it would be linking hands with Burr and Arnold's shame ? 

Hark ! a sound even then was uttered that should chase one lingering doubt, 

Thrilling all the nation's pulses as its fiery words rung out : 

"Who dares touch the nation's baaner, be the traitor's doom his lot ! 

Give him neither grace nor mercy — shoot him dead upon the spot !" 

Who spoke out those words of truth that with no traitor thought would mix ? 

Who but Tammany's first Sachem — ever honored — John A. Ddc ! 

Who among our army leaders caught those words of patriot flame, 

Laid them up, and swore to do them when the day of trial came ? 

Who but staunch and firm Ben Butler — Butler, of the "contraband" — 

Butler, who has ruled New Orleans with a firm and even hand — 

Butler, who when Mamford seized our starry flag of sacred fire, 

Tore it from a public building — trampled it in rebel mire, — 

Took no counsel, feared no threatening, wove no veil of legal fog, 

But in sight of all the city hung the traitor like a dog ! 

Even then a Tammany Sachem had begun the martyr roll. 
Bowing to the toils of service, though no toil could bow his soul ,• — 
VosBURGH of the gallant spirit — Vosburgh of the manly heart, 
Who in all our great first rising bore a true aiid gallant part ; 
Even then was he we honored — Kennedy, of spotless fame, 
Raising up a corps of heroes that should bear the Wigwam's name. 
Even then the dim perception dawned, no doubt, upon his eyes, 
How from fields of patriot service noble souls to heaven rise. 
In its providence his footsteps never pressed the battle plain, 
But he died, as true a hero, on his bed of fever pain ; 
And above his lone grave standing, we behold a hero's sod, 
And can trust him in the future in the hands of Freedom's God ! 

Gallant Kennedy ! — oh brothers of the order that he loved. 

Well I know the friends who knew him cannot hear his name unmoved. 

Never since the race of manhood with the dawn of time began, 

Have you known a truer friend, or stood beside a worthier 7nan ! 

And when base detraction's voice shall say that Tammany shames its place, 

Bid the slanderer through the sod look down and see his clay-cold face. 

Finding there the final answer that the world shall read with ease : 

"Milksops, traitors, are not made of men who die such deaths as the.se!'' 



17 



Nobly have they borne the banner — those wlio held the Tummany name, 

For though Kennedy was dead, almost his peer in Cogswell came ; 

And no blows of greatei" vigor, ever veterans tried and. tough 

Struck, than struck the men you christened, at that butcher field, BdWs Bluff ; 

When poor Baker, heart of iron, with a soft, persuasive tongue, 

Fell, full ripe in years and honors, but oh far, by tar too young ; 

And when Lander, pearl of knighthood, such as graced the olden song. 

Met the wound foredoomed to slay him ere the coming days were long. 

From that field the gallaut Cogswell went to fill a prison cell. 

With too many of the soldiers he had loved and trained so well ; 

But they bore their fate like heroes ; and of those who yet remained, 

Who has seen the Tammany banner for one moment lost or stainsd ? 

These are they who give the answer, when foul tongues the jibe renew : 

"Tammany — Democracy — oh, who shall say that they are true?" 

And if Democratic leaders — democratic men, who bear 

Full three-quarters of that ark which holds a nation's hope and prayer — 

If they have not yet full answered all the questions malice gave 

Of the faith with which they battled, all we loved to sain and save. 

That assertion made by scripture well may stand the case in stead : 

"They will not believe the truth though one should tell them from the dead !" 

Twelve months since the word was sounded, as we looked at Jackson's bust 

And remembered how his vigor kept intact a nation's trust — 

That until the war was ended, and the Union joined once more — 

Hill to vale and vale to river- — mountain top to ocean shore, — 

We would never cease the struggle— never grudge our blood or gold 

For the honor of the nation and the starry flag of old. 

Never has that pledge been broken — no "conditions" have we set 

To that loyalty the country needed and is needing yet. 

We have claimed, and yet we claim it — that this struggle must not be 

One to bind the tohite in slavery while it sets the negro free ! — 

We have claimed, and yet we claim it, that the sword the nation draws 

Must defend the Constitution and ignore all "higher laws " ! 

We have thundered, "Down with traitors, wheresoever they ope the mouth — 

Abolition in New England, with rebellion in the South." 

We have said, "In vaiu this fighting, if when all the strife is done, 

But the barren soil is conquered and no people's hearts are won !'' 

Is this treason ? If it be so, let the curse of ages fall. 

For the democrats are traitors — rampant, dangerous traitors, aU ! 

Bat we shall be traitors, mark you, when the nation calls for aid 
And some democratic Andrew chaffers o'er it like a trade ! — 

3 



Tells the government, "So many of our men perhaps may go, 

If you shape the war to please us — bend yovir policy thus and so ! 

If you bow the knee to Hunter, let his proclamation stand 

As the rule by which to govern warfare over all the land ! 

Do this, and our men we pour you, like the conqueriDg hosts of Rome : 

Act except as loe shall bid, and Massachusetts stajs at home !'' 

How much meaner, subtler treason could the Carolinas show. 

When their black "State Rights" they preached us, in the troubles long ago?" 

Every State to be the master — all coerce the nation's head ! — 

What is this but rank "secession," growing in a Northern bed ?" 

Honor be to Abraham Lincoln, that thus far his course is true, 
Doing for the nation's welfare all an honest man can do ! 
Honor to his name forever, that no Abolition force 
Seems to have the power to move him far from safety's middle course! 
Long ago he learned the lesson that they all must learn at length — 
That the black Chicago platform had no element of strength — 
That republican support at best mu&t prove a rope of sand, — 
That democracy must aid him if he wished to save the land. 

He has erred — for man is mortal— but few men of any age 

Could have walked so well and nobly on his racked, distracted stage. 

He will save the perilled nation if his better sense he heeds, 

Listens to that voice of warning that the best of rulers needs, 

" Puts his foot down " till it crushes all fanaticism flat. 

And becomes what all can welcome — afullUooded democrat. 

On your strong right arm, McClellan — that strong democratic arm, 
And that brain still engineerin?' plans to work the rebels harm — 
On those plans by Scott once moulded, and with patience carried out, 
Spite of all the yells and curses of a brainless rabble rout, — 
On these all, stout George McClellan, we can lean and have no fear, 
Though the progress of our armies slow and tedious may appear ; 
Though repulsed by thrice your numbers in the longest, deadliest fight 
That e'er tested bone and muscle— brain and patriotic might — 
Though repulsed, yet not defeated — no ! — let Monday's, Tuesday's close. 
When the lion turned at bay and rent to shreds his crowding foes, 
Let these answer if you fail us in our day of sorest need ! — 
If you have not proved a hero worthy of our noblest meed ! 
Such men may be foiled a moment, but, though coward cheeks turn pale. 
Victory springs from past disaster, for they are not born to fail ! 
Onward with the reinforcements ! — onward to the rescue pour! 
Richmond falls before you leave it — that ve know and ask no more ! 



19 



Long since had the fight been ended, but that jealousy most base, 

Shedding on the time and country bitter, long and fbul disgrace. 

Foiled your plans and shrunk your forces, in the fear that yet some day 

You might be, if too successful, in the politicians^ way ! 

But the people know the story, and the people wait in hope 

Till you make the foe -'skedaddle" and they're "bagged'' by young John Popk ! 

Pope — the strong right hand of Halleck. and the man the people want 

'Stead of all the fuss and feathers clustered 'round the weak Fremont ! 

Victories yet shall crown the standard — victories scattered far and wide. 

Like the long, bright roll of battles woo on Mississippi's side ! 

Not even blunders like Manasses— like Ball's BluflF, and Charleston fight, 

WhfTe the gallant Seventy-ninth were mowed like grass, disdaining flight — 

Not even these can stop the torrent, or can keep it long delayed 

While the boys can use the bayonet in Ban Sickles' s brigade ! 

While tbe Irish legions struggle, with the bravest deeds of man, 

To revenge their fallen comrades and release Mike Corcoran ! 

Twelve months since, upon this platform, Tammany its portion chose — 

"Union, truth and God forever ! death to all the country's foes !" 

And to-day the cry it echoes — let the patriot fight go on 

Till we hold the last far stronghold— till the last red field is won ! 

It may cost us lives uncounted — it may cost us gold by tons. 

And the country, f^hen 'tis ended, sure must mourn her bravest sons ; 

Taxes may awhile oppress us, and the languid throbs of trade 

Show the great, wide desolation that the rebel bands have made ; 

But for this the arms of Moses must not falter, sink and fall ; 

For the Uaion — Heaven's best blessing! — oh, the Union's worth it aU! 

Would ye know whose hands are faithful and whose hearts are brave and true ? 

Then a test to-day we bring you that the needed work may do ! 

In the far South-west, imprisoned, threatened, starved and almost hung 

By the bitter, hopeless traitors whom his lot was cast among, 

Lived a man whose name will linger while one pulse of faith we know, 

As the firmest friend of Union — as secession's deadliest foe. 

Some of you since then have met him — all of you well know his name. 

And for bave old Parson Brownlow every true mau's love we claim ! 

Well, released at last from bondage, free to wander where he will, 

Tbe old Parson makes his journeys, preaching Union — Union still ; 

And but yesterday he published, what no true man needs to look 

More than ouce before he buys it — kaowu as "Parson Brownlow's Book.'' 

And thit book is dedicated to the men he loves the best — 

Those whom he would clasp most warmly to his patriotic breast. 

Listen to the words he utters — how he calls the noble roll 

That embraces in the Union every true and loyal soul : 



20 



"To the brave man and the honest — to the patriot citizen 
Ranked among the uncondiWonal, never-faltering Union men ; — 
To all those who love the loyal, and rebellion hold in scorn, 
Whether in the North or South the traitor miscreant was born, 
And no matter under what pretence the crime bursts out in flower — 
For the sake of oflSce, money, fame or pride, revenge or power ; — 
To those men — whatever party they may honor as their own, 
Who will never see their government disgraced and overthrown, 
But beneath the starry banner swear to live or swear to die, 
Though the prison walls are mouldy and the gallows beam is high ; 
To all men who fight this battle and will perish ere they yield. 
With the Union for their war-cry and its power their sword and shield!" 

These are they to whom the Parson points with honor and with pride 
This displays a creed beneath which North and South will ne'er divide. 
'Tis an oath — all true men take it. This to be, till time is gray, 
Tammany, the old and loyal, swears with upstretched arm to-day ! 
For the country — the whole country — still to fight till all is won ! 
For the Union— the old Union — ne'er to think our labor done ! 
To give freely, blood and treasure, till all's o'er or all is given. 
And to hold the good old flag the dearest thing beneath the heaven ! 

Will red Abolition join us, in the oath that thus we swear, ^ 

For the country — the whole country — everything to do and dare ? 

No ! — for when it did, its mission to disturb the public peace 

And make foes of friends and brothers, — with the very word would cease ! 

Till it does so, blight and palsy fall upon his coward name 

Who would bow to please ?l faction and brand national men with shame ! 

Through long years of pride and honor, spite of all that else befel. 

Democratic counsels bore us — ever safely, ever well. 

When they failed, the land was perilled : when once more they rule the hour, 

Treason will be dead and buried and rebellion hurled from power ! 

Labor all, by word and ballot, for that glorious coming day 

When all sectional disturbance shall be dead and swept away — 

When no other aspiratioa any man shall dare to draw 

Than 'God save the good old Union— Constitution, love and law I" 

Brothers! — 'tis the Nation's Birth-day, honored o'er the whole broad land 

Where the fatal curse, secession, has not laid its blighting hand. 

Pray with me that yet another anniversary we may keep 

Long before one man amongst us falls in death's unbroken sleep — 

Anniversary of that morning, soon to be, if God is just. 

When the last secession army kneels for peace or bites the dust, — 

When the good old flag from Sumter once again in pride is flung, 

With the last poor wanderer pardoned, and the last arch-rebel hung ! 



21 

Professor Colburn and pupils then sang the following 
CHORUS— PATRIOTIC HYMN -" FOREVER." 

WORDS BY NELSON J. WATERBURY. MUSIC BY GEO. F. BRISTOW. 

God bless our own dear land ; 
Its sons together band, 

Forever and forever. 
From ocean unto ocean, 
Inspire but one emotion. 
One hope and one devotion. 

God bless our country ever, 

Forever and forever. 

God bless our Union chain, 
Each sacred link retain, 

Forever and forever ; 
With other links extend it. 
Let treason never rend it. 
From every foe defend it. 

God bless the Union ever. 

Forever and forever. 

God bless our banner bright. 
The Standard of the Right, 

Forever and forever ; 
Its Stripes and Constellation, 
Our hearts' fond adoration. 
The glory of our nation, 

God bless that Flag forever, 

Forever and forever. 

God bless the homes we love, 
• And guard them from above. 

Forever and forever. 
The angel lips which pray there. 
The little ones who play there, 
The manly hearts that sway there — 

God bless them all forever. 

Forever and forever. 

After the singing of an original patriotic ballad by Mr. 
Frank O'Donnell, the Grand vSachem introduced the Orator of 
the day — Hon. Charles P. Daly — first Judge of the Court of 
Common Pleas, who was most enthusiastically received. When 
silence was restored, Judge Daly addressed the vast and atten- 
tive audience as follows : 



22 



ORATION. 

BY HON. CHARLES P. DALY. 

It is now, fellow-citizens, exactly thi'ee hundred years ago. 
this year, and at this present season of the year, since the first 
settlement was made in the United States. In that year, 1562, 
a small squadron of ships, containing a body of French Huguenot 
adventm-ers, entered the harbor of Port Royal, for the purpose 
of colonization and settlement. On one of the islands, now in 
possession of the Federal troops, and over which the flag of 
the Union now waves, twenty-six of these adventurers built 
a fort and established a settlement, raising a monumental 
stone inscribed with the arms of France and giving to the 
country the name of Carolina. After three centuries have 
elapsed from this first attempt at occupation and settlement of 
what, since the 4th of July, 1776, has been known as the United 
States, — three centuries which have witnessed a tide of ceaseless 
emigration, ultimately leading to a powerful nation under the 
government of democratic institutions, we have beheld upon 
this very soil of Carolina, the development of a spirit that 
would destroy the structure it has cost centuries to erect, and 
which has leagued in its suicidal policy, the feeblest, the least 
enlightened, and the most aristocratic, of those hitherto living 
under a common government. During these three hundred 
years, our story may be briefly told in the fact, that in the first 
two centuries and a quarter we increased in population but to 
fom' millions, and that in the three-quarters of a century that 
has elapsed since the formation of the Constitution of the 
United States we have swelled to the magnitude of thirty 
millions. The first two centuries is a history of colonial vassal- 
age, in which we were controlled by the government of Eng- 
land, and deeply impregnated with the ideas, forms, and aristo- 
cratic notions of society, growing out of monarchial institutions. 



23 



The first quarter of the remaining century was spent in effecting 
oiu' independence and afterward in a hopeless attempt to get on 
as independent sovereignties, under a compact by which each 
State bound itself, as expressed in the articles of the Confedera- 
tion, " to assist each other against all force offered to, or attack 
made upon them, or any of them on account of religion, sovereign- 
ty, trade, or any other pretence, whatever." We were a cluster 
of nationalities and not a nation. That event commenced with 
the adoption of the Constitution, which, discarding the old 
terms that denoted a league of States, opened with the expres- 
sive words, " We, the people of the United States.'' From that 
period we have presented a spectacle of gigantic growth in 
population, arts, industry, wealth and territory, undtr a demo- 
cratic national government, such as has never been witnessed 
during the same space of time in the history of mankind under 
any form of government. 

Knit together by the geographical relation of each part to 
the whole, by the lines which nature has marked in mountain 
chains, in the direction and confluence of great rivers, and in 
our wide expanse of sea coast, we have added to the advantages 
of nature by an internal web of railroads, and through our 
energetic industry have brought about a combination of interests, 
agricultural, commercial, mechanical, and manufacturing, so 
closely interwoven as to make that of the one dependent upon 
' that of the other. Isolated from the nations of the old world, 
and almost equally separated from the Southern Hemisphere by 
the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, we have an exemption from 
the dangers of foreign conquest or aggression to which nations 
less fortunately situated are subject. 

Such was the spectacle we have hitherto presented. We had 
nothing to fear but ourselves : and now on this third centennial 
anniversary of our beginning as a people, we assemble on this 
day, so saci'ed in our annals, with the consciousness that a blow 



24 



has been struck at the fabric v^e have reared, so sudden and so 
powerful in its effect as to show the existence of deep-seated 
causes, which it has now become oui* duty as men and as pa- 
triots to consider. 

Our government is that of a Democracy, with limitations and 
features however that distinguish it from that of any govern- 
ment of a similar kind that has ever existed. We did not de- 
rive it from the political teachings of speculative writers ; but 
it grew up from our own wants, necessities, and nmtual depend- 
ence upon each other during the long period of our colonization 
and settlement. It was the necessary and natural result of 
causes operating in the first period of our history, and is the only 
form of g^ernment under which we could, or can advance as 
a people. This is a truth expressed in the axiom of Montesquieu, 
" that every people must be developed according to the laws of 
their origin." 

It may not be the best fitted for other nations, but it is the 
only one that is adapted to us. It is susceptible of modifica- 
tions, of changes, and of many improvements, but in its funda- 
mental principles it must go on, the result in the great futui*e 
being its permanent establishment as a successful form of human 
government, or anarchy. Certain things have taken deep root 
and have become so incorporated in our habits, opinions and 
laws as to have to us the significance of truth. We have had 
strong faith in the wisdom and good sense of the multitude, 
and believe that though often mistaken and carried away, they 
will come in the end to the right conclusion ; that they are on 
the whole the best judges of their own interests, and that it is 
safer and better to trust in them than to any exclusive and aris- 
tocratic class constituted to rule over and direct them. That 
to that end everything should be done for the education of the 
people ; that they cannot be too much enlightened, and that 
general education and unrestricted freedom in every depart- 



25 



inent of human labor will produce great intellectual and mate- 
rial development, gradually elevating- the mass and improving 
the physical, intellectual and moral condition of the whole peo- 
ple. That the effect of republican institutions is to make men 
rely more upon themselves and to call into greater activity their 
intellectual and industrial qualities. That an aristocratic class, 
however refined or cultivated in itself, tends rather to retard 
than to advance the condition of the whole people, and that 
consequently every thing which tends to perpetuate property in 
families should in this country be restricted as leading to a class 
that produces nothing while it arrogates to itself an assumed 
superiority based upon the distinction of family. 

Whether we are right or wrong in these ideas ; whether it 
is possible or not to carry them out, we have been earnestly en- 
gaged in the attempt for a period now of eighty-six years, and 
whether it be wise or not, considered in respect to our perpe- 
tuity as a nation, it is at least a fact, that under no government 
which has previously existed, has the mass of the people ever 
enjoyed the same amount of material comforts, felt the same de- 
gree of personal independence, or shared so largely in the crea- 
tion of the laws by which they are governed. These ideas, now 
working out in practical development, have penetrated to the 
depths of European society, and attracted to our shores men of 
all nationalities, dissatisfied with the governments under which 
they lived, and making this country their own by the deliberate 
act of adoption. This never-ceasing tide has gone on adding 
to our material wealth and productive industry, and keeping up 
that attrition, rough contact, and collision of interests which 
must exist where there is a gradual uprising and elevation of 
the masses. In a state of transition like this there is very lit- 
tle that is attractive to the admirers of European society, and 
hence, all of this class, from Mrs. Trollope, to ]Mr. Russell, of 
the London Times, have agreed in disliking the country ; but to 
4 



26 



the poor man, battling in the great struggle of life, seeking to 
improve the condition of himself and family, this broad terri- 
tory, mider the development of democratic institutions, has 
presented a home such as he has never found since the world 
began ; and that he so feels and understands it is manifest in 
the multitude of men, both native and foreign, who have volun- 
tarily left their peaceful, industrial pursuits, to maintain with 
their lives the institutions under which these blessings have been 
enjoyed. 

Whilst such has been the result in the Northern States, a 
very different state of things has prevailed in the States of 
the South. Agricultural in their interests, the labor there, 
which is the productive source of their wealth, is performed by 
a servile class, and as a necessary consequence of the existence 
of the relation of master and serf, society there is and must be 
more aristocratic in its developments. The pride of birth, the 
distinction of family, and the possession of refined and culti- 
vated manners, are there wiiat is most valued, as well by those 
who possess them as by those who do not. There the tide of 
European emigration has never flowed, the field of labor being 
exclusively occupied and society constituted upon a basis of 
slavery which cannot be lightly disturbed, nor changed nor al- 
tered with any good result, except by measures to be adminis- 
tered alone by the people among whom it exists. It is the tend- 
ency of an aristocracy to give special importance to everything 
pertaining to themselves; and the aristocracy of two of the 
oldest of the Southern States — South Carolina and Virginia — 
exalt themselves especially over what they call their blood and 
descent : the one as the descendants of the Huguenots, and the 
other of the Cavaliers. It is not much matter, in a contest like 
this, how, or from whom, they are descended ; but as they speak 
of themselves as a high-souled race, descended from a stock 
wholly different from the ^^ mud-sill s,^^ as they term the masses 



27 



of the North, and give that as a reason why they cannot be tied 
to its rough and vulgar democracy, it may be as well to see 
upon what authority this claim to distinguished descent rests, 
and to settle it by an appeal to history. 

The first Huguenots who settled in Carolina are described by 
the historian as " a motley group of dissolute men, mad with a 
passion for sudden wealth, among whom nuitinies were frequent, 
and who conmienced their career by a course of piracy against 
the Spaniards," and the inhabitants of this province kept up a 
course of piratical enterprises which almost annihilated com- 
merce in the American seas in the latter part of the seventeenth 
century. Chalmers in his annals says, " The Governor of Caro- 
lina, the proprietary deputies, the principal inhabitants, all de- 
graded themselves to a level with the meanest of mankind by 
assisting pirates, and by receiving the plunder of nations." Nor 
was their disgrace the only inconvenience which resulted from 
their infamous conduct ; but their long-continued troubles with 
the Spaniards in Florida grew out of the indignation with which 
that people saw the plunderers of their wealth openly encour- 
aged at Charleston. How completely they had devoted them- 
selves to this mode of life, may be inferred from a letter from 
Whitchell, April lOtli, 1G84, to the Governor, Deputies, and 
Council of Carolina, suggesting " that the opening of a trade 
by the colony with the vSpaniards might induce a more honest 
mode of enriching themselves, than by plundering his Majesty's 
allies." And in keeping with this state of society there was 
no administration of the ordinances of religion in Carolina for 
many years after its establishment as a colony. 

A single authority will suffice, as respects Eastern Virginia, 
to show who were the ancestors of those who constitute the 
present chivalry of that rebellious part of the State, Western 
Virginia having been settled by emigrants from the north of 
Ireland. That authority comes from the highest source ; an eye 



28 



witness, the celebrated Captain John Smith, whose name is so 
inseparably interwoven with the poetical story of Pocahontas. 
He describes the settlers of Eastern Virginia in these words, 
which are not altogether inapplicable even at the present daj-. 
" A great part" he says, " were unruly sparks, packed off by 
their friends to escape worse destinies at home. Many were 
poor gentlemen, broken tradesmen, rakes, libertines, footmen, 
and such others as were much fitter to spoil and ruin a common- 
wealth than to help to raise or to maintain one." To which 
may be added, that these two colonies received in larger pro- 
portion than any of the rest, the transported convicts of Eng- 
land. This is history, and with these facts on the page of his- 
tory how ridiculous is this assumption of distinguished descent. 
It is best disposed of in the memorable lines of Pope : 

" Count me those only who were good and great, 
Go ! if your ancient but ignoble blood, 
Has only crept through scoundrels since the flood ; 
Go ! and pretend your family is young, 
Nor own your fathers have been fools so long. 
What can ennoble slaves, or sots, or cowards, 
Alas ! not aU the blood of aU the Howards." 

The transition from pride of birth and of family to State 
pride is only an expansion of the same passion. Hence in these 
States, especially in the older ones, we have had the most ex- 
travagant pretensions put forth under the title of "State 
Rights." Such was the claim of nullification by which South 
Carolina arrogated to herself the right of nullifying any law 
of the general government which did not please her, and la,t- 
terly the doctrine of peaceable secession, of which she was the 
parent. This peculiarity existed as early as the revolution. 
The chief difficulty then was to get the aristocratic States of 
the South to unite with the others in the effort to separate from 
Great Britain. John Adams wrote to General Gates, on the 
23d March, 1776, in these words, " All our misfortunes arise 
from a single' source — the reluctance of the Southern colonies to 



•20 



a Repulilican government." And before the adoption of the 
Constitution, Washington, knowing their restlessness under 
rule, their high estimate of their own iniportance, and that they 
had interests peculiar and different from the other States, gave 
some advice to the whole countr^^, the wisdom of which, if not 
previously appreciated, is now painfully apparent. " We are," 
he said in the Summer of 1785, "either an united people, or 
thirteen independent sovereignties, eternally counteracting each 
other. If the former, then, whatever such a majority of the 
States as tlie Constitution points out, conceives to be for the 
benefit of the whole, it should be submitted to by the minority. 
Let the Southern States be always represented, let them act 
more in union, let them declare freely and boldly what is for 
their interest, and what is prejudicial to them, and there will 
be, there must be, an accommodating spirit." Edmund Burke, 
one of the profoundest of statesmen and the ablest of writers 
upon government that England has produced, has declared that 
the vital principle in the practical working of a free govern- 
ment is compromise. It has been our heavy misfortune to live 
in an age when this great truth has been scouted by superficial 
journalists, fulsome orators, and political parsons, who, unitedly, 
have had influence enough to build up a party that has carried 
this thriving and prosperous country into one of the most ex- 
tended and complicated civil wars that has ever taken place 
upon the face of this globe. The unexampled growth of this 
nation under influences so opposed to the fixed views of nearly 
every other existing government, was a spectacle to invoke 
every species of unfavorable comment on the part of unfriendly 
observers and writers. We commenced our government amid 
the predictions of Englishmen of every rank that the whole af- 
fair would immediately tmnble to pieces, and when that was 
falsified by our amazing progress, the inconsistency between our 
political principles and our practice, as exhibited in the institu- 



30 



tion of slavery, was seized upon and has been a choice theme 
for the last thirty years for English writers, journalists, orators 
and travellers. 

It would have been well had we imitated our censors, the 
English, in their indifference to the opinions of other nations. 
We have imitated them in a quality in which they especially 
excel, the art of blowing their own trumpet ; but we have par- 
ticularly in New England, exhibited a sensitiveness to every- 
thing that an Englishman was pleased to utter upon the subject 
of slavery, very unlike the indifference with which Englishmen 
heard that their countrymen in India- had taken prisoners of 
war and by way of example blown them into fragments from 
the mouths of cannon. It is the infirmity of many of our New 
England brethren to look only upon one side of a question; to 
collect with untiring industry everything which tends to justify 
that and to treat with contempt everything opposed to it. This 
is especially illustrated in the way in which they have looked 
upon our national interests in its connection with the subject of 
slavery. What they think others must think. This class of 
men in New England are a's little tolerant in matters of opin- 
ion as their ancestors were two hundred years ago, and as men 
of the same stamp then did not hesitate to burn the witch and 
the unrecanting Quaker, so among the modern abolitionists men 
are found ready to counsel the slave to fire the dwelling of his 
master, and give him, his wife and his children to the flames. 
It also happens that the Southern Puritan, the descendant of the 
Huguenot, resembles very much in this respect his Eastern 
brother. On the subject of slavery he will tolerate no opinion 
but his own. With him it is the key-stone of the social edifice, 
the only basis upon which civil society can rest, the structure 
upon which to rear a higher form of civilization, views of which 
he has become as active a propagandist .throughout the South, as 
his Eastern antagonist has been in the North of his pet scheme 



31 



of immediate emancipation. For some time the Eastern pro- 
pagandist gave himself to the task of convincing the South of 
the sinfuhiess and moral iniquity of slavery, and the necessity 
for its immediate abolition, and it ended, as might have been 
expected, in both becoming more firmly convinced in the correct- 
ness of their own views than before. The next remedy was 
political agitation, violent denunciation of the South, its people 
and institutions, and precisely in proportion as that increased 
did the South doggedly determine to make slavery a lasting and 
perpetual thing. 

The great Democratic party, true to the instincts which, for 
fifty years, have preserved and guided it as an organization 
looking to the welfare of the whole country, opposed itself as a 
barrier, and was able to do so successfully until the South de- 
serted it, and it was borne down by the surging tide of the Re- 
publican party. Abraham Lincoln was elected according to the 
mode prescribed by the Constitution, a result waited for by the 
South as the signal for the breaking up of the government. 
The work of dismemberment began. What was the duty of the 
Democratic party, then ? Powerless as a political minority, it 
pressed Burke's remedy (compromise), — the remedy which Eng- 
land has successfully employed in political agitations as violent 
and as threatening as this, and by which Henry Clay had be- 
fore steadied the disturbed bark of the State. Its voice was 
unheeded. The triumphant Republicans would neither believe 
in the possibility of separation, nor in the danger of civil war. 
Mr. Greeley declared that the South were so dependent upon 
the North that " it could not be kicked out of the Union ;" and 
even when every arsenal in the South had been seized, and ten 
thousand men beleaguered Sumter, the Government was more 
beset and taken up by the clamorous appeals for office than by 
the perilous condition of the country. 

When the culminating blow was at last struck, no one asked 



32 



what was the duty of the Democratic party then. It was anti- 
cipated by the impulsive action of its masses — by the crowds of 
Democrats who filled the ranks of the regiments, and who now 
constitute the two-thirds of the army of the Union. Fortu- 
nately for the Government an honest man was found at its head, 
determined to stand by the Constitution, and enforce it as long 
as the people would stand by him. We have now been involved 
over a year in this war. We have already incurred, in conduct- 
ing it, an expense • equal to one-fourth of the national debt of 
Great Britain, and to every man who is able to think for him- 
self it is manifest that we have not yet reached the heart of the 
rebellion. We have a task upon us equivalent to the conquest 
of a nation, and in a country where the difficulties of carrying 
on an offensive war, are unusually great. There is no alterna- 
tive now, but to go on and prosecute the war to the utmost ex- 
tent of our ability. Whatever can be accomplished, can be ac- 
complished only by military means, for any propositions now for 
a settlement would be treated by the South with contempt and 
scorn. All hope or expectation of union feeling in any place 
not permanently held by our troops may be abandoned. It does 
not exist, or if it does, is so controlled that it will not be dis- 
covered, until we have conquered their armies, and obtained 
possession of their forts and cities. The work before us is a 
vast one, and to accomplish it sacrifices must be undergone of 
which we have at present but an inadequate conception. We 
have had a call made upon the Government to raise three hun- 
dred thousand more troops. It is a wise measure ; wise, not 
only as a means of completing the war rapidly, but as the most 
effective means of preventing the armed intervention of Eng- 
land and France, or of one of them, of which we stand every 
moment in danger. At a crisis so critical as this, what is the 
spectacle presented at Washington ? The attention of Congress 
absorbed in the creation of a tariff for the benefit of manufac- 



3B 



turers, so sweeping in its prohibitions, as to cut off all hope of 
revenue, and establish a Chinese non-intercourse between us and 
the commercial nations of the world ; and plans to effect the 
conquest of the South by the magical operation of confiscation 
bills, and for the liberation of slaves that are not in our posses- 
sion. In addition to which we have politicians controlling the 
movements of generals, and representatives of the people who 
have no hesitation in declaring their intention to embarrass the 
Government unless it avow and act upon the policy of making 
thisa war for the immediate emancipation of the slaves of the 
South ; that unless that is done, they will compel the Govern- 
ment to consent to a separation. Let no such man talk here- 
after of Southern traitors. He is, to carry out his own insane 
project, as ready to destroy the Government of his fathers as 
they. Slavery must be left to take care of itself; to bide what- 
ever fate may attend it under the contingencies and necessities 
of the war. Every other consideration must be merged- in the 
great duty of maintaining the authority of the Government by 
force of arms. 

As the time is approaching when the Democratic party can 
give expi'ession to its sentiments, it will be for them to demand 
that this war shall not be carried on as a political speculation, 
but as a great national work. De Tocque^ille, while declaring 
thirty years ago, that what he saw here convinced him of the 
superiority of a free government over others, at the same time 
pointed out what he looked upon as our greatest . danger, the 
tendency of our political machinery to elevate to the important 
places of public trust, men with little or no qualification for 
the positions they undertake to fill. He said that we were not 
yet sufficiently alive to the fact that there is a certain cultiva- 
tion which can never be shared by the masses, but which is es- 
sential in those who undertake to administer the affairs of a 
State. We have a melancholy proof of this in many of the men 
5 



34 



who now exercise an influence upon the administration of our 
national affairs at Washington — men dictating, with all the 
confidence of ignorance in a crisis like this, what should or 
should not be done, even in the operation of the armies. If 
we would preserve this government, our standard of public men 
must be a higher one, and it lies with the Democratic party, as 
the great conservator of the best interests of the nation, to look 
to it. The principles of republican government are on trial in 
this great contest. Upon us has fallen the responsibility of pre- 
serving it, and it remains to be seen whether we are or are not 
equal to the emergency. Other great nations have passed 
through the ordeal of civil war, and come out of it more strong- 
ly cemented than before. Such has been the case in England, 
in France, and in Spain, but in no similar instance have two 
great parts of a country been arrayed against each other as in 
this. The question may be asked, why not let them go ? The 
answer is, that it is to give up the most important part of our 
country, geographically — the mouths of our commanding rivers, 
our national outlets, and nearly the whole of our sea-coast, 
leaving us but a fragment of the territory of our once great re- 
public, so loosely connected geographically, and with interests 
so conflicting, that the dismemberment and breaking up of what 
would be left to us, wpuld be the inevitable consequence. Look 
upon the map of the United States and see the nature and rela- 
tive position of the country that would remain. It would be 
impossible for it to hold together. We must be what we have 
been or we are nothing. We are engaged in a struggle for 
national existence, and trite as it is, the watchword throughout 
the land must be, the Union now sand forever, one and inseparable. 



After a fantasia and variations on the piano by Mr. Sullivan, 

Hon. Daniel E. Delavan, proposed the following resolutions, 
which were unanimously adopted : 



35 



Resolved, That the Tammany Society, and its friends as- 
sembled here to-day, present their sincere thanks to the Hon. 
Charles P. Daly, for his able and patriotic oration ; also to 
Henry Morford, Esq., for the very happy original poem written 
and delivered by him ; also to Hosea B. Perkins, Esq., for his 
impressive recitation of an original ode to Washington ; also 
to Miss Annie Mahon, for the beautiful song sung by her ; also 
to George W. McLean, Esq., for reading the Declaration of 
Independence ; also to Prof. Marcus Colburn, and the twenty- 
four boys assisting him, for theil* fine patriotic songs and 
hymns ; also to Prof. Charles F. Olney, for his accompaniment 
on the piano ; also to the Cecilian Brass Band, for the beautiful 
music played by them; also to Frank B. O'Donnell, Esq., for 
the original patriotic song composed and sung by himself; also 
to Thomas D. Sullivan, for the fantasia and variations played 
by him on the piano ; also to Messrs. Lighte and Bradburys, 
for the loan of the magnificent piano-forte used on this occa- 
sion; and further — 

Resolved, That the whole proceedings of this celebration be 
published in pamphlet form, to be distributed to members of 
this Society, and to their friends. 

General Hiram Walbridge then presented himself, and was 
received with loud and continued cheers. He said: I have, 
sir, a resolution to propose, which I will read : 

Whereas, The United States are engaged in suppressing a 
wicked and infamous rebellion, against the integrity of the Con- 
stitution and the stability of the Union ; and, 

Whereas, continued intimations reach us of foreign interven- 
tion ; The Democracy of the city and county of New York, while 
commemorating the anniversary of the birth of our National 
existence, unanimously declare: 

First, That it has ever been the policy of the people and 
Government of the United States, to refrain from any inter- 
ference in the internal conflicts of foreign powers; that this 
policy, early inaugurated by Washington, conceived in wisdom, 
and steadily maintained by patriotism and sound policy, has 
secured the assent and become the doctrine of the whole Ameri- 
can people. 



36 



Second, That, if in conflict with this wide and beneficent 
policy, any intervention in the domestic troubles of the United 
States be meditated by any of the European Powers, they 
must count the cost of war with a spirited and independent 
people, with a million of men already called to the field, 
with an interest in the soil, and justly recognizing that the 
cause of republican representative government, as developed 
and illustrated in our institutions, has been confided in part to 
their sacred keeping. 

Third, That the announcement of this intervention, in an 
authoritative form, will be no less than to sow the Northern 
section of this hemisphere with the fabled dragon's teeth, and, 
in due time, will bring forth its full crop of armed men. 

The General proceeded : One year ago, to-day, standing in 
this place as the representative of this Society, I announced to 
this people the necessity of calling to the field six-hundred 
thousand troops. 

A Voice: " So you did, I heard that." 

General Walbridge : . A year has transpired and Tammany 
has been vindicated. At that time it was asserted by many that 
the Gulf of Mexico would be nothing else than a European 
lake. Already they are attempting • to force upon this country 
violations of the Monroe doctrine — a doctrine which is 
so essential to its safety. As Tammany has been vindi- 
cated by the events of last year, I desire that these Resolu- 
tions should pass, in order to see whether the masses of this 
country will not vindicate our action to day. [hear, hear and 
cheers] If war must come, I desire that it shall be forced 
upon us by those across the water, and then we will appeal, I 
presume, to the courage and integrity of every man on this con- 
tinent, and settle all questions, [loud cheers] 

Ex. Grand Sachem Elijah F. Purdy, in seconding the adop- 
tion of the Resolutions, expressed his desire that they should 
be included in the Official Report of the day's proceedings. 
The Resolutions were then unanimously adopted. 



37 



After the singing of the " Star Spangled Banner ^''^ which termi- 
nated the regular order of exercises in the large room, the as- 
semblage, preceded by the Sachems and Officers of the Society, 
with their invited guests, marched in procession to 

"THE BANQUET ROOM," 

where .a fine collation had been prepared. After full justice 
had been done to the viands, champagne, punch, <fec., &c., Grand 
Sachem AVaterbury announced the first regular toast : 

The Day We Celebrate : 

May the clouds which darken its eighty-sixth anniversary be 
speedily dispelled, and the sunlight of peace again gladden 
every part of our widely extended land. 

To respond to this toast, the Grand Sachem said, 1 will intro- 
duce a gentleman whom you all know and honor ; who has been 
absent froiai this country for several months, and whom I am 
now glad to welcome back to our shores, as I am sure you all 
are. I call upon the Hon. August Belmont, [loud cheers] 

Mr. Belmont then presented himself, and was most warm- 
ly received. He said : 

Mr. Grand Sachem and Gentlemen: 

I am extremely obliged to you for the high honor you bestow 
upon me and the cordiality with which you welcome me home. 
I am deeply impressed and entirely taken by surprise ; however, 
I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have been absent 
from my country for the last ten months, compelled to a tempo- 
rary resi deuce abroad by illness in my family. It was a source 
of heartfelt regret for me to be away from home and from my 
friends in their dark horn' of trial, [cheersj J cannot describe 
to you the anxiety and sorrow with which A watched the pro- 
gress of our gallant army and navy ; but when I saw from month 
to month the energy and patriotism of our people rise stronger 



38 



and higher under every adversity, anxieties were relieved and 
my fervent hopes and conviction in the ultimate reconstruction 
of the Union confii'med. [loud cheers'] 

I come home at a dark and gloomy moment of the struggle in 
which we are engaged. It seems as if Providence had decreed 
this momentary reverse of our heroic army in order to admon- 
ish us on this anniversary of our National Independence, that it 
will require the whole energy of our people if we mean to leave 
to our children the blessed inheritance bestowed by the fathers 
of our Republic. We have to deal with a powerful enemy, ar- 
rayed in relentless strife against our institutions and the best 
interests of humanity, and it will require the undivided and gi- 
gantic efforts of our united people to save our country and our 
Union, [loud cheers] 

There is no sacrifice too great, none which we should not most 
cheerfully make in order to help the government at this moment. 
We want more troops, more money, and everything good and 
loyal citizens can give to their country in this hour of danger. 
[cheers] 

Allow me, Mr. Chairman, to conclude by giving the following 
sentiment : 

" Our country, the object of our dearest affections : may she 
ever find her sons worthy of her, and ready to sacrifice their 
lives and their treasure in her defence, against domestic trait- 
ors or foreign foes." [loud, and continued cheers] 

Grand Sachem Watekbuey, then gave the second regular 
toast, and said that he would call upon Judge Hilton to re- 
spond, [cheers] 

George Washington : 

Under whose paternal guidance our freedom was secured, and 
our country established. Universal fidelity to his precepts 
and example will preserve both, forever. 



39 



Hon. H'enry Hilton, who was enthusiastically received, re- 
sponded to the toast in the following terms : 

Me. Chairman and Fellow Citizens : 

The name of Washington is one endeared to us all. It is 
identified with our existence as a nation, and with all that is 
great and good in our early history. Indeed, it may be said 
that from him we have sprung as a people, and to him is justly 
due that aftectionate name of "Father of our Country." [loud 
cheers] He it was that led us through all our early trials and 
dangers, labored for us in our revolution, and finally brought us 
to victory and prosperity. [cheers\ Through the subduing force 
of his mind, and his never-failing wisdom, he enabled us to 
emerge from a dependent existence as a colony, to a great nation, 
and finally to become a republic of free men. It may then just- 
ly be said of him, that under his paternal guidance our freedom 
was secured, and our country established. May the walls of 
Old Tammany always resound with words of reverence and af- 
fection for his great name, [cheers] May his memory, with that 
of Jefferson and Jackson, ever be talismanic within this Hall. 
[cheers] And may the day we now celebrate be ever regarded 
as commemorative of the blessings which have descended to us 
from the services of him who was " first in war, first in peace, 
and first in the hearts of his countrymen." [loud cheers] 

The Grand Sachem then gave the third regular toast : 

Thomas Jefferson: 

His early pen traced the living words that declared our In- 
dependence ; and his later writings, as approaching death 
quickened his vision and intensified his love, implored his 
countrymen to avoid the dangers of sectional strife. May 
his word^ of inspiration and warning recall the madness 
of treason and fanaticism, and fire anew tl^ie heart of 
patriotism. 

General H. Walbridge being called upon to respond, was 



40 



welcomed with loud and repeated applause: when silence was 
restored, he spoke as follows: 

Fellow Citizens and Friends: — There is profound wisdom 
at this period in the history of the Republic, when foreign in- 
tervention is said to be imminent, in recalling, even amid our 
thick tlu'onging domestic disasters, the words, the writings, and 
the memory of the illustrious citizen and statesman, Thomas 
Jefferson, [hear, hear, and cheers] In that first administration 
referred to by the distinguished gentleman who has just con- 
cluded — the administration of the illustrious Washington, when 
he was organizing the Federal Government, and shaping its 
policy, so as to command the respect of the generations that 
were to follow, he called to his support, as Secretary of State, 
Thomas Jefferson, who brought to the discharge of the high 
duties confided to him, great and commanding ability, an un- 
selfish patriotism, profound learning as a publicist, with vast re- 
search, and unimpeachable integrity, [loud cheers] Our rela- 
tions with England, were still of an unsatisfactory character. 
The drama of the French Revolution was about to startle and 
astonish the Christian world. We had previously formed a 
treaty of alliance with the French nation, who had materially 
aided us in the struggles of the Revolution. France had deter- 
mined to send forth her hitherto invincible legions in search of 
conquest through Continental Europe. England, her great rival, 
had dominion upon the sea, but the earth trembled beneath the 
advancing tread of the heroic French. It became a question of 
grave complications, and serious import, whether our treaty with 
France rendered it obligatory on the part of the American peo- 
ple to engage in her aggressive designs. It is not too much to 
say, the destiny of our free institutions was involved in the de- 
cision. The country turned with anxious solicitude to the de- 
cision of Washington- He comprehended, not only the high 
responsibility resting upon him, but the vast consequences in- 



41 



volved. Washington determined to steer clear of all foreign 
complications, and to avoid taking part in the strife that was 
to deluge Europe Avith blood, [cheers] The Secretary of 
State was authorized to enunciate to the world the American 
doctrine of neutrality, in all foreign disputes. Thomas Jef- 
ferson rose adequate to the occasion. He had, in 1776, framed 
the declaration that severed the connection of the colonies from 
G-reat Britain. A duty equally sublime was now confided to 
him, to prescribe the policy of the new government in its intercourse 
with foreign powers. That policy was declared to be non- 
intervention IN THE INTERNAL CONFLICTS OF FOREIGN STATES. 
\_cheers.^ 

This doctrine, then first proclaimed by a young and rising 
nation, has become the recognized and acknowledged doctrine 
of all civilized states. To the immortal honor of the American 
people — be it forever said — they determined, on the soil of this 
new hemisphere, they would lay broad and deep the founda- 
tions of free institutions, without desiring to interfere in the 
collisions of other States, [loud cheers] 

From that hour to this, we have invariably pursued this wise, 
just, and beneficent policy, nor have we departed from it when 
revolution and tumults have ruled throughout the British Empire, 
at different intervals, from Canada to India ; we have pursued 
the same undeviating policy, even when Ireland was struggling 
to regain her long lost nationality, though our keenest sympa- 
thies were stimulated with gratitude for the heroic devotion 
with which many of her cherished sons fell fighting for Ameri- 
can Independence, [loud and continued cheering] 

When, therefore, we are engaged in a domestic dissension — 
when a portion of our misguided citizens have raised the ban- 
ner of revolt and rebellion against the Federal authority, and 
against that very Constitution which guaranteed them every 
protection, it is a deep and burning shame, a monument of eter- 
6 



42 



nal infamy for any power from across the water to involve them- 
selves, by any intervention, in our present domestic struggle. 
[cheers.l It is in direct conflict with the policy we have 
ourselves hitherto pursued, and which policy secured for us the 
regard of the whole christian world. But I shall not despair. 
If this foreign intervention is to come, I repeat it, let it 
COME. There is a God in heaven. There is a power that deals 
out justice among nations as among men, and if, in violation of 
all honor and all law, any armed intervention from abroad is 
to be imposed upon this great, loyal American people, relying 
upon our own strong arm, we will implore the God of battles to 
smile upon us, as upon our fathers in the darkened period of the 
Revolution, and we will enter upon the contest, determined 
that here liberty shall build her last entrenchment, and that 
we shall fight till we spill the last drop of our blood in 
maintaining and preserving, free, representative, constitutional 
government, from the grasping avarice or ambition of any 
foreign invaders, [cheers'] In such a conflict, the loyal, true 
men of America will be sustained by the genuine lovers of 
freedom in both hemispheres, [long and protracted applause] 

The Grand Sachem next gave the fourth regular toast : 

The Union: 

The glorious arch that spans our national horizon ; may no 
pleiad ever be lost from its constellation. 

Mr. Henry L. Clinton briefly responded; After the electri- 
fying words which they had just heard from the distinguished 
gentleman who had last addressed them, he (Mr. C.) felt that 
nothing he could say, would add to the importance of the senti- 
ment, or to the occasion. While the previous speaker (Wal- 
bridge) was addressing them, he (Mr. C.) could not but reflect, 
with joyous satisfaction, that there was one bridge representing 



43 



the democratic strength, over which, neither domestic traitors, 
nor insolent foreign interventionists, in their mad designs to 
crush this country, could ever pass ; and that bridge was old Tam- 
many's WalBUiDGE. [cheers] Let England or France, or any 
number of foreign nations assail us, and they will lind us a na- 
tion of Wal-bridges, provided with invincible and eternal bar- 
riers to all foreign intervention in our domestic affairs, [loicd and 
continued cheers.] There was but one sentiment interwoven in 
the thoughts, and stamped in characters of glowing fire upon 
the heart of this great nation, which was embraced in the words 
of the sainted hero whose portrait fitly decks the walls of Tam- 
many : " The Union must and shall be preserved." [loud cheering] 
While our beloved country was wrapt in the flames of civil 
strife, while the evils of the worst of all wars — a civil war — 
overspread the land, it was no small consolation for every firm 
and consistent democrat to reflect that the democratic party 
had done all in its power to avert the dreadful catastrophe. 
He (Mr. C.) believed in the most determined and energetic pro- 
secution of the war. After some further remarks in regard to 
the incalculable benefits of the Union, and the ruin of the 
country's dearest interests, which would follow in the wake of 
dissolution, Mr. C, in conclusion said : Let us ever fight for 
and protect to the last extremity, the glorious old ship of state. 
May she ever be preserved to us, undecayed by time, unharmed 
by man. For over eighty years, freighted with liberty's choicest 
blessings, with the nation's dearest interests, with the hopes of 
the civilized world, she has carried us in safety over the troubled 
waters of the political deep. But if, in the providence of God, 
she shall ever be destined to founder — to sink — let our last 
lingering gaze be upon the glorious old flag — the stars and stripes 
— nailed to the mast; let the last sound which breaks on our 
ear be, the consecrated words, " Dont give up the ship'\ [loud 
cheers.] 



44 



The Grand Sachem gave the fifth regular toast : 

The Constitution: 

Its power, which is enforced even at the point of the bayonet, 
shall be a shield to the rights of every citizen, and to the 
rights of every State. 

Hon. Richard B. Connolly, in presenting himself to respond 
to the toast, was received with hearty and repeated cheers. He 
said : 

Fellow Democrats : I have been called upon by the Grand 
Sachem to respond to the toast of " The Constitution." If I 
had the eloquence of a Walbridge, I might do justice to that 
toast, but being an humble, unpretending individual myself, 
unaccustomed to public speaking, I can only let my heart pour 
forth a few plain words in response to that glorious toast. 
[cheers.'] This is the day which is hallowed by the memory of 
the man who made that Constitution, and in these trying times 
every man who loves liberty as well as his life, should stand up 
in support of that Constitution, which is giving to every man, no 
matter how humble he may be, in this great country, equal privi- 
leges with the rich and powerful in the land, [hear, hear, and 
loud cheers.] That Constitution, fellow democrats, is now on its 
trial. Two great armies are in hostile array engaged in fight- 
ing for that Constitution, one fighting for the great principles 
laid down in that Constitution, and the other desiring to 
trample it in the dust, [cheers] And all I hope is, and I pray 
to Almighty God, that victory will perch upon the banner of 
that army which is fighting for the Constitution of the United 
States, and fighting for life and liberty, [loud cheers] In these 
trying times let us abandon all party, and let us stand by the 
country and by the Constitution, [cheers] Let the Union of 
these States be imprinted in the mind of every man, no matter 
from what clime he comes from to seek a home in this happy 



45 



country, [cheers} Let us endeavor by all our actions, and by 
every word we can express, to imprint indelibly upon the minds 
of young and old that this Constitution must be preserved ; and 
must be handed down to posterity, inviolate. [enthusiastic 
applause.] 

The sixth regular toast was then given : 

Our Nationality: 

A priceless inheritance, which shall be transmitted inviolate 
to our children, though with malignant hate and despe- 
rate fanaticism, armed traitors at home, envious foes 
abroad, and reckless incendiaries within our own lines, 
combine for its destruction. 

Hon. Charles P. Daly, in responding to the toast, spoke as 
follows : 

Fellow Citizens: 

I am called upon to respond to the toast of " Our Nationality." 
Om" nationality is like this bouquet of flowers which the chair- 
man has put into my hand. It is a gathering together of things 
different in themselves. A mixture of many nationalities bound 
like this bouquet in confident union. As I hold this up in my 
hand, it is a beautiful object to look at, but if I cut the string 
that binds it, it falls to pieces, and the beauty which it had in 
combination is gone. It has another feature of our nationality. 
It is largely interspersed with green, [loud cheering] Sprigs of 
green leaves are scattered tkrough it, and gird it around, and 
support it in an emerald ring, [cheers] So that race, the Irish 
race, of which this color is the emblem and the type, is profusely 
scattered over the land, a hardy plant, growing up everywhere 
around the flowers of our common nationality. As this green 
is to the flowers which keep it company, so in the American 
Union, the L-ish race do not simply adorn, but are one of the 
the constituent parts of its unity, its strength, and its power. 



46 



The Gkand Sachem gave the seventh regular toast: 

Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States: 

In so far as he has rejected the trammels of party, overruled 
the plottings of fanaticism, and been faithful to the Con- 
stitution, we honor him. May his future course be such, 
that the respect and gratitude of his countrymen will be 
heartfelt and unmixed. 

Past Grand Sachem Elijah F. Purdy, being called upon to 
respond, was received with loud cheers for "the old War 
Horse." He said: 

Fellow Democrats: One might imagine that it is a mere 
joke that I am called upon to respond to a toast complimen- 
tary to Abraham Lincoln. Though we live in strange times, 
I must acknowledge that it is very unusual for me to speak 
in complimentary terms of any one but a democrat ; [cheers] but 
I am really at a loss to find words to express what is really due 
to the chief magistrate. Whoever may be chief magistrate, he 
is entitled to the respect and support of every loyal American ; 
and I can assure Mr. Lincoln, that so long as he conducts this 
war for the suppression of the rebellion and the supremacy of the 
law, to restore the Union as it was, and maintaining the Consti- 
tution as it is, he will always find a hearty response and cordial 
support from democrats, [loud cheers] and particularly from those 
of Tammany Hall, [cheers] But if this war is to be prosecu- 
ted for the dishonest purpose of emancipating the negroes of 
the South, he cannot expect the support of democrats, [loud 
cheers.] I hope, however, different counsels will prevail; and I 
believe our present magistrate is disposed and determined to 
sustain the Constitution aa»our Fathers made it. [cheers] That is 
all we ask, and as long as he does so — as long as he carries out 
the principles enunciated by Jackson, [cheers] he may look for 
the support of all democrats. And I believe, fellow democrats, 
I but express yom- feelings when I say that Mr. Lincoln can do 



47 



nothing that will gratify us so much as he will by procuring 
the immediate release of the gallant Colonel Corcoran, [enthti- 
siastic cheers.] In that he may count upon your hearty support. 
You ask that, and expect it at his hands, [loud cheers] 

The Grand Sachem announced the eighth regular toast : 
Our Noble Army, and George B. McClellan, its Com- 
manding General: 
The prescient skill and calm self-possession of the young Chief, 
and the unyielding valor and uncomplaining endurance of 
all, officers and men, have illuminated with glory the sad- 
dest page of our National history. 

C. H. Brackett, Esq., being loudly called for, arose and re- 
sponded to the sentiment in a few remarks, in which he depicted 
in glowing [terms the brilliant achievements of our armies, and 
portrayed with earnest enthusiasm the manly qualities, high 
abilities and signal services of Gen. McClellan, every men- 
tion of whose name elicited prolonged applause. 

The ninth regular toast was then given : 
Our Gallant Navy: 

It has nobly maintained, in the contest with treason, upon our 

own waters, the unrivalled prestige it acquired in times past 

by its brilliant victories over a foreign foe, upon the ocean. 

Sachem Isaac Bell, at the call of the Grand Sachem, briefly 
expressed the interest of the metropolis in the triumph and effi- 
ciency of the Navy, and the gratification universally diffused by 
the valiant deeds of Foote, Dupont, Farragut and their gal- 
lant associates, his remarks being loudly cheered by a sympa- 
thetic audience. 

The Grand Sachem next gave the tenth regular toast : 

The State of New York: 

Mighty in all the elements of power ; in the prompt and gen- 
erous support which it has given to the War for the Union, 
it has again vindicated the justice of its motto of " Ex- 
celsior." 

Responded to by Brother George W. McLean. 



48 



The Grand Sachem announced the eleventh regular toast : 

The City op New York: 

The Nation has made it great, and overspread the world with 
its commerce ; and in the struggle for the Nation's life, with 
the flowing wealth of its capitalists and the teeming 
legions of its soldiers, it has repaid the obligations of duty 
and gratitude. 

Responded to by Brother Andre Froment, one of the Alder- 
men of the city. 

The twelfth regular toast was then given : 

The Press: 

A mighty engine for good and for evil. Its regulation must 
be in and from itself; and it can never be safely subjected 
to the arbitrary power of any individual, even though he 
be a Cabinet officer. 

Responded to by Brother Anson Herrick, of the Atlas. 

The Grand Sachem then gave the thirteenth regular toast : 

Our Countrywomen : 

The inspiration of the soldier's valor and the civilian's labor ; 
the charm of the household and the blessing of the hos- 
pital ; upon their hearts war lays its heaviest hand ; may 
it requite their sacrifices by securing to them and to their 
children free and happy homes forever. 

Brother Horatio P. Carr, in a few remarks, gave expression 
to the admiration of the Sons of Tammany for the beauties who 
grace the Wigwams of the warriors, in a manner which called 
forth their rapturous applause. 

The proceedings were enlivened by patriotic songs by 
Francis B. O'Donnell and James Nesbit, and the banquet was 
concluded with three cheers for Grand Sachem Waterbury. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




